


To Belong

by duskblue



Series: Irondad Bingo 2019 [12]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Gen, Iron Dad, Irondad, Not Canon Compliant, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Tony Stark Has A Heart, this is fluff!!, with a little angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:55:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,493
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21722584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/duskblue/pseuds/duskblue
Summary: After defeating Thanos, everything feels so different, and Peter just wants to belong. So when Tony and Pepper invite him on their family vacation to Malibu, he’s just a little worried he won’t fit in.This is for my bingo prompt: post-infinity war (except I changed it to post-endgame) and everyone lives. There is no death. This is fluff. I promise <3
Relationships: Peter Parker & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: Irondad Bingo 2019 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1326146
Comments: 16
Kudos: 477
Collections: Iron Dad Bingo





	To Belong

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so I'm finally coming out my post nano failure mood. Here's something I wrote in November that I finally looked over and did a little editing on. 
> 
> Thank you so much for all your support in this bingo challenge so far! I hope you all like this one too! <3

Peter buckles himself in and then looks up, watching while Tony and Pepper fuss over Morgan in her seat. Pepper is working on her seatbelt, and Tony is handing her a juice box. Peter is thrilled that the Starks asked him to go on vacation with them to their Malibu house over Thanksgiving. Especially since May will be working double shifts anyway, and he would have been eating a turkey sandwich at home by himself. He’s just not really sure where he fits in anymore. A lot has changed in five years, and to Peter, he still feels like the same person he’s always been while everyone else has done the changing.

He’s feeling like an intruder in their family when Tony plops down in the seat next to him and hands him a juice box, too. 

“Don’t drink it too fast,” Tony says, in the exact same soft voice he speaks to Morgan in. “You can’t get up and go potty until the seatbelt sign goes off.”

Peter smiles and rolls his eyes. “I’m sixteen, Mr Stark. Not six.”

Tony shrugs. “Just making up for lost time. There’s more where that came from.”

Peter isn’t sure if he’s talking about juice boxes or dad stuff, but he accepts the juice box anyway and pops the straw into the top. It’s gone in two big sips. “Thanks,” he says, handing it back to him. “I’ll have another.”

Tony smirks at him but digs out another juice box from the mini fridge in the wall of the plane, anyway. “From Dad to slave, all in one day,” he says, handing it to Peter. “Anything else you’d like, your highness?”

“Nope. This is good.” Peter sucks down the 2nd juice box and hands it back almost as quickly. So, maybe all the changes weren’t bad ones. For one, Tony is a lot softer around the edges than he used to be. And he really likes Morgan, so that’s definitely a positive thing. He just wishes sometimes it could still be him and Tony without anyone else. He misses the days they used to spend in the lab together at the compound, and wonders if he’ll ever have something like that again.

Tony ruffles Peter’s hair and then tosses both empty juice boxes into the small trash receptacle that opens up from the wall beside the fridge.

Peter can’t help but look at Morgan, who is staring at him from her seat while she sucks down her own juice box, a million times slower than he would have. “Mommy?” she says, looking up at Pepper. “Can I sit by Petey?”

“You know the rules, honey,” Pepper says. “Once the plane starts moving, you have to stay in your seat.”

Morgan looks over at Peter like she might seriously start crying at any second.

“Maybe,” Pepper goes on, “if you’re a good girl in Malibu, you can sit by Peter on the way back to New York. How does that sound?”

Morgan wipes at her eyes with her sleeve. “I guess that’s okay.”

While Pepper tries to busy Morgan with some books, Tony leans closer to Peter. “She loves you, if you couldn’t tell,” he says in a hushed voice. “Ever since you came back, she won’t shut up about you. Honestly, the kid talks about nothing else.”

Don’t get him wrong, Peter is super flattered by Morgan’s attention. If Morgan accepts him and even loves him, then he definitely feels more welcomed into the family. It’s just that he wants _Tony_ to love and accept him. Before, he had been constantly trying to prove to him that he was grown up enough to be an Avenger, but things have changed. He learned the hard way that being an Avenger is not all it’s cracked up to be. And now he just wants Tony to accept him as plain old Peter Parker. Which, honestly, seems impossible. Because Tony found him because he’s Spider-man. Just because he’s handing him juice boxes and ruffling his hair doesn’t mean he’d like Peter the same if he hadn’t been Spider-man.

“You’ve been a little quiet lately,” Tony says when Peter doesn’t reply. “I distinctly remember a kid who couldn’t shut up. So what’s wrong, kiddo? Anything I can do to help?”

“I’m just tired,” Peter says after a moment, unable to fully meet his mentor’s eyes. “Is there any water? I guess I’m still thirsty.”

Tony looks at him with concern, but goes to grab a bottled water from the fridge for him, anyway. 

~*~

When they arrive at the Malibu house, Peter realizes right then that it’s not really a house. It’s not at all like the lake house or the compound or the new penthouse they stay in when they’re in the city. It’s more like a mansion.

Morgan latches onto his hand and tugs, trying to drag him farther in the house, but she’s not nearly strong enough to do so. “Come on, Petey! I wanna show you my room!”

Pepper exchanges a look with Tony that Peter doesn’t miss, and then she grabs a hold of Morgan’s other hand before Peter has a chance to reply. “Come on, Missy. It’s way past nap time for you. When you wake up, you can show Peter everything.”

“Aww, no!” Morgan says, holding tighter to Peter’s hand. “Let me show him first! Please, Petey?”

“First thing after your nap,” Peter says. Even though he hates disappointing Morgan, he wants to follow Pepper’s rules. “I promise, okay? You can show me everything.”

She looks up at him, a little unsure. It must be so hard for five year olds to have to wait for things, Peter thinks. 

“Okay,” she finally says. “But only because you promised, and I trust you.”

He takes a breath because trust is such a big thing. And it means a lot to him that she trusts him, even though they technically just met a short time ago. “Well, I promise. And I won’t break my promise, I swear.”

“Oooh, now there’s swearing!” Tony says from behind him. “That’s pretty serious.”

Morgan’s focus changes from Peter to Tony. “Shh, Daddy. This is none of your business.”

“Oh, it isn’t?” Tony says, playing along. “I thought everything was my business.”

It’s Pepper’s turn to hush him, and then she finally manages to drag Morgan away from Peter and around the corner.

Tony puts his hand on Peter’s shoulder and gives him a little push. “Come on. Let’s go check out the kitchen. That snack on the plane wasn’t enough.”

The snack he’s talking about, was a full spread of brunch type foods, including fruit, eggs, sausage, bacon, and fancy looking pastries, but Peter hadn’t felt very hungry so he just picked at a few things. He had hoped Tony didn’t notice, but of course he did. Tony wants to make sure Peter gets enough calories for his super metabolism, of course. It’s just that being on a plane kind of made him nervous, especially since the last time he was in the air, he was flying on a spaceship to a weird red planet. After that, everything had changed.

But he doesn’t want to talk about that, so he follows Tony into the kitchen and sits on a stool at the counter while Tony pulls out sandwich fixings from the fridge. “Um, no offense, Mr Stark,” he says, hoping to keep the subject matter light. “But how long has that deli meat been sitting in there?”

Tony looks up at him from the ham he’s piling up on a piece of bread. “Twenty-four hours at most,” he says. “I had an authorized delivery placed yesterday so everything would be ready for us.” He smiles. “Don’t worry, Pete. I won’t feed you rotten food.”

Peter is pretty sure his face has turned red. “Just checking,” he says, trying to smile. 

“What do you want on yours? Lettuce? Tomatoes? Mustard or Mayo?”

“I can do it, Mr Stark. You don’t have to make my sandwich.” He reaches for the plate that the half-made sandwich is laying out on and tries to slide it towards himself, but Tony pulls it back.

“Let me take care of you, Pete,” Tony says, looking up to meet Peter’s eyes. “I told your aunt that you’re my responsibility for the next week, and I meant that.”

Peter presses his lips together, trying to think of a good response. He settles on, “I’m sure Aunt May didn’t mean you should put my sandwiches together when I can definitely do that for myself, no problem. In fact, she would have told me to get off my butt and make it myself.”

Tony slides the plate out of Peter’s reach. “Well, I’m going to make this sandwich for you because I want to. So your job is to sit there patiently and tell me what you want on it. And if you can’t decide, I’ll pick for you. Just so you’re aware, if I pick, it comes with every vegetable on this counter.”

“Okay, fine,” Peter grumbles, well aware that he’s not going to win this battle. Plus, he’s eyeing the slices of avocados and that would totally ruin his sandwich. “You can put a lot of pickles on it. And cheese. And mustard, I guess.”

Tony listens to Peter’s wishes and makes the sandwich exactly as suggested. Then he cuts it in half, diagonally, and pushes the plate towards Peter. “What do you want to drink?”

“What do you have?” Peter asks, picking up the sandwich and taking a big bite. He hadn’t even realized how how hungry he was until he starts chewing. And then it’s like a race to eat the sandwich as quickly as possible.

Tony goes to the fridge and starts listing off the different beverages. He has so many different kinds of soda and juice in his refrigerator, that it’s almost impossible for Peter to decide. 

“How about just surprise me,” Peter says before taking another big bite.

Tony takes out a rootbeer and and a Sprite, and slide them over to Peter before he starts making his own sandwich, much smaller than the one he made for Peter. “So,” he says, when they’re both sitting down and eating their food. “I was thinking after Morgan gets up and eats, we can maybe go down to the beach. I know you saw it on the drive in, but it’s not the same thing as walking along the sand. I think you’d like it.” He looks up at Peter hopefully.

“Okay,” Peter agrees. Honestly, the beach sounds amazing. And he is getting some one on one time with Tony, so he can’t really complain too much. Morgan takes naps, apparently, and she’ll probably go to bed kind of early too, so maybe they’ll have enough time together. Maybe it will be almost like it was before everything changed.

“And maybe for dinner, we can come in and you and Morgan can swim a little in the pool if you want. I thought I’d grill some stuff and Pepper was going to make something healthy like a salad. We all try to eat a little of it so we don’t hurt her feelings. Or at least that’s what I tell Morgan.”

Peter chuckles and chews on his last bite, reaching for the pickle jar and fishing out some extra ones with a fork. 

“Sometimes, Morgan puts up a fight,” Tony goes on. “Pepper makes her take three bites anyway.”

“I think salads are okay usually,” Peter says, popping a pickle into his mouth. “Especially the kind with the marshmallows that you get at old lady potlucks.”

Tony smirks. “That’s not a salad, kid. Not a real one. A real one is comprised of mostly green ingredients.”

“Well, what about the pistachio marshmallow salad? That’s green.”

Tony just winks and points at him. “I like the way you think, Pete. However, I’m pretty sure that’s not the salad that Pepper will be making.”

“Oh, well. I guess I’ll try it if I have to.”

“Still hungry?” Tony asks, gathering all the sandwich ingredients and bringing them back to the refrigerator. “Or do you want to come see my lab here? It’s not as big as the one that was at the compound, but it’s still pretty amazing, if I do say so myself.”

Peter can’t stop the grin from coming to his face. This is what he’s wanted all along--to feel like everything is back to normal, at least with his relationship with Tony. He knows things are different, but he still wants some things to stay the same. “I can eat later!” he says, hopping down from the stool. “Let’s go!”

Tony laughs while he finishes putting the food away and then turns to Peter with a smile. “Alright, kid. Follow me.” 

Peter gladly follows Tony through a massive dining room and living room in an open floor plan. It seems like it’s as big as the gym at his school, though he knows that it’s probably not quite that massive. Tony could have such huge parties here if he wanted to. Then, at the back of the house, they come to another staircase, though this one is not quite as fancy as the one at the front of the house. It leads them to a complete underground lab and workshop that reminds Peter very much of the one from the compound, only this one is, as Tony said, a bit smaller. 

“I love it here,” Peter says, looking around in awe. “Would it be okay if we worked in here a bit this week? I mean, only if it’s alright with you, Mr Stark.”

“Here’s what I was thinking,” Tony says, placing his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Once Morgan goes to bed, we can come down here and work on whatever we want.”

Peter has never smiled so hard.

“Only,” Tony goes on, “Pepper says we have to come up for bed by midnight so we can get up in time for breakfast with the family. I know it sucks, but those are her rules, not mine.” He’s looking at Peter with hopeful eyes, like he thinks that Peter might actually be disappointed with that part of the plan.

“Yeah,” Peter says, still grinning. “But maybe some nights we could watch movies. I love this and all, but we don’t have to be here every night.”

Tony wraps an arm around Peter’s shoulders and pulls him in, giving him a quick side hug. “No wonder Pepper loves you so much.”

Peter isn’t sure what to say. So far, Tony has said that Morgan loves him, and Pepper loves him, but he has not once said if _he_ loves him. It’s pretty clear that Tony cares for Peter at least a small amount, but how exactly does he feel? Does he consider Peter part of his family? Or is he just some spider-kid who needs assistance? Peter doesn’t want charity. He wants to _belong_. Of course, he belongs with May, but she’s just one person--one person who works a hell of a lot. It would be nice to have more family that he could be with when she’s busy.

He supposes that’s kind of what this Thanksgiving trip really is, after all, but if Tony doesn’t feel the same way about it, then Peter doesn’t want to think about it that way. He’s already had enough loss in life to hurt over this, too.

Tony squeezes his shoulder. “In fact, let’s go watch a movie now and wait for Morgan to wake up.”

~*~

Peter finds himself a little overwhelmed by all the movies he needs to catch up on. Of course half of the actors and directors and producers and half of everyone involved in Hollywood were not able to make movies in those five years he was gone, so it’s less than it would have been otherwise. But he’s still overwhelmed, anyway. Tony helps him pick because it seems like he’s scrolling through choices for a really long time. It’s a good choice, but he still falls asleep on Tony’s shoulder halfway through, and when he wakes up, he’s so comfortably cuddled into Tony’s side, that he wants to close his eyes and pretend he’s still asleep.

He’s had his eyes closed for about five minutes, just listening to his mentor’s heart beat steadily in his chest, when there’s a gentle poke on his arm.

“Hey, buddy,” Tony says softly. “Pepper and Morgan went to the beach without us. It’s almost dinner time, so it’s our job to man the grill. But you gotta get up first.”

Peter slowly opens his eyes. He doesn’t want to get up, but he is a little hungry, so he moves away from Tony enough to stretch and yawn. “Are we having burgers?”

Tony smiles. “If that’s what you want. Morgan wants a hot dog _and_ a burger. According to the text Pepper just sent me.”

“Can I have two burgers and two hot dogs?” Peter gets up from the couch, stretching again. That had been a good nap, and now he’s probably going to be up too late tonight. Oh, well. Tony had mentioned earlier that Pepper wanted them all up for breakfast in the morning, but surely she would excuse Peter on the first day and let him sleep in a little longer?

Tony gets up from the couch, moving a little slowly, and beckons Peter to the kitchen. “Come on. Help me bring everything outside for the grill.

Peter ends up carrying the big tray with the meat, and Tony has all the spices and utensils they’ll need, all inside of a wire basket. Peter follows him out into the backyard and nearly drops the tray of meat because the view is so breathtaking. Tony’s Malibu house is right on the beach. They are so close that he can see the waves crashing up on some rocks near the shoreline just beyond the pool. Of course, there is a fence blocking that area off. Peter thinks it was probably built that way when Morgan was born.

Tony, being so used to the view, doesn’t hesitate and walks straight to the grill to set his things down. “Over here, Pete,” he says, his voice getting somewhat lost over the sound of the waves rolling in.

Peter hurriedly brings the tray of meat to the grill and sets it down in the exact place where Tony points to. “Mr Stark,” he says, watching while Tony starts the grill. “This is amazing out here. I’m really sorry I fell asleep, and we missed the beach. Maybe we can go out there tomorrow?”

Tony turns slightly to smile at him. “Yeah, of course we can. This is supposed to be a relaxing vacation. We do what we want.” He turns back to the grill and mumbles, “within reason.”

“So…” Peter sits down on a four foot retaining wall beside the grill. “No webbing up pickpockets on the beach then?”

“Yeah, no,” Tony confirms, but there is no humor in his voice. And after he has all the meat sizzling on the grill, he lowers the cover and turns to face Peter. “Can we talk for a second?”

Peter shrugs. “Isn’t that what we’re doing?”

“No, I mean a serious talk.”

Peter doesn’t know why he feels like he might start shaking like a leaf at any second. Does that mean he’s scared? “Okay,” he manages to get out.

Tony finds a chair and pulls it over so he’s facing Peter on the ledge. “A long time ago, before I met you, Pepper wanted me to quit making the suits and stop the whole Iron Man thing.”

Peter gapes at him. It’s not at all where he thought the conversation was going to go, but he’s shocked nonetheless. “She _did_?”

“Yes,” Tony says. “I had a hard time understanding her back then, and I thought I finally got what she meant. But I didn’t realize it exactly until a little after I met you.”

“Me?” Peter says, pointing to himself. “Why me?”

“I tried and I tried and I tried to keep you safe. I built you that first suit with more features than I’ve ever put in any suit before. And no matter what I did, you managed to get yourself into trouble. I tried tracking you, and you and your friend removed the tracker. And then when—” He pauses, closing his eyes and pressing against his temple for a moment. “When Thanos tried to destroy us, I told you to stay on Earth, and you came with us anyway. I have never tried harder to keep anyone safe. And I failed.”’

“No, you didn’t, Mr Stark!” Peter says, probably a little too loudly. “It was _me_ who failed. I’m the one who should have listened to you. I didn’t listen, and I made things worse.”

“My point is,” Tony says, looking up to meet his eyes again. “That I finally understood what Pepper meant when she said she wanted me to give up the suits. I thought I knew why back then, but I never felt it until I met you. I know that no matter what I say, you’re going to continue to run around in your little onesies. I just want you to know that my heart is breaking, Peter.” He puts his hand over his chest so hard it makes a little thump. “Every time you get hurt, I hurt. And I won’t be able to handle it on this Earth without you again. So please, _please_ \--keep that in mind when you’re out there. I’m old and I won’t be able to come and extract you from sticky situations forever.”

Peter tries to swallow the lump in his throat. “I’m sorry,” he says, trying his best not to let the tears fall from his eyes. “I don’t mean to make you sad.”

Tony gets up from his chair and comes to stand by where Peter’s sitting. “Hey, bud, don’t cry, alright? I just want you to know it’s hard for me to watch you out there all the time. I don’t want you to get hurt because I love you.”

Peter freezes because Tony just said--out loud--that he loves Peter. It’s what he’s been wondering since he got on the plane, and to hear it out loud when honestly, he wasn’t expecting it, is a little surprising.

“I want to be clear. You’re my kid, and I love you,” Tony says, nudging Peter’s arm. “Now get down from there so I can hug you. Because you know this old main isn’t climbing up on that wall.”

Peter slides down from the wall, feeling a little like this is a dream world. He’s at this beautiful Malibu vacation home on the other side of the country, and Tony Stark just told him he’s his kid and he loves him. All he’s ever wanted is to belong, so when Tony pulls him into his arms and holds him tightly, like he’s the most precious thing in the universe, Peter does feel it. He belongs.

“Alright, buddy,” Tony says after a while. “Are you going to promise me you’ll think a little bit before jumping head first into stuff in the future?”

“Mm hmm,” Peter mumbles.

“And will you promise to call me if anything goes wrong?”

The reason Peter hasn’t called Tony sometimes in the past is because he didn’t want Tony to think he failed. He didn’t want Tony to look at him and think that he wasn’t worth it. But now it’s fairly obvious that Tony isn’t going to throw him out with the trash for a mistake or two, even if it’s a big one, so he nods. “I promise.”

“Good,” Tony says softly, patting his back. “One day when you’re my age, some kid is going to give you heart palpitations. And then you’re going to think back on this moment, and you’re gonna be like, ‘Oh. That was what he meant.’ Remember that, Pete.”

Peter chuckles. “Okay, Mr Stark.”

It’s at that moment that notices a bunch of smoke spilling out from the cover of the grill, so he moves away from the hug and lunges to lift the lid.

Once the smoke clears, Mr Stark pokes at the hot dogs. “Well, Morgan is probably going to say I’m the worst dad in the world. All the hot dogs--completely charred to a crisp.”

On the far end of the grill, the two rows of burgers look just fine. Peter grabs the spatula and flips them over, one by one to reveal that they’re just a little charred. He thinks if they slap a piece of cheese on that side, Morgan will never know. “At least the burgers survived.”

He’s still inspecting the burgers when he hears the patio door opening and then little footsteps on the stones, running up to them. Before he knows it, two little arms are wrapped around him. 

“Petey, you promised I could show you everything after my nap, but then you took an even _longer_ nap, so Mommy and Daddy made me to go the beach without you,” Morgan says, looking up at him with sad brown eyes that look just like her dad’s. 

He leans down to pick her up, gathering her up in his arms and settling her easily on his hip. “I’m sorry, Morgan. I guess I was really tired. Maybe after dinner you can show me? Is that okay?”

She leans in, wrapping her arms around his neck and squeezing him tightly. “Okay. But I changed my mind. Instead of one hot dog and one cheeseburger, I want one hot dog with two pieces of cheese on it.”

Tony rushes over to block to grill from Morgan’s view. He turns Peter around so she can’t see it and then pats both of their backs. “Daddy needs to run to the store quick,” he says. “Where’s Mommy?” 

Morgan pulls back from Peter and sticks out her tongue in disgust. “She’s making a nasty salad.”

“Pete, you watch the burgers. Make sure Morgan doesn’t fall into the pool. I’ll be right back, okay?” 

“Okay,” Peter agrees, a little taken aback when Tony leans in to kiss Morgan’s forehead and then Peter’s. 

Morgan rests her head back onto Peter’s shoulder while they both watch Tony rush back towards the house and disappear through the patio door. “I love having a big brother,” she says happily.

Peter’s face can’t help but bloom into a smile. “Well, I love having a little sister, so I guess that’s a good thing.”

Morgan turns her head back towards the grill. “What are those black things there?” she says, pointing to the charred hot dogs.

“Those?” Peter says, rushing to think of a good response. “They were a science experiment. I don’t think it worked.”


End file.
